HP's RFID chip opens new design vistas

HP's Memory Spot chip will take RFID systems to a new level of sophistication.

Make no mistake about it, the so-called Memory Spot chip that HP announced yesterday will take RFID systems to a new level of sophistication.

Because of its tiny size, 4 MB of storage and 10 Mbps data rate, the device can be put almost anywhere on a product (or person) and send and receive all sorts of data. It is the ideal chip, for example, for the electronic passport because it can store about as much biometric data about the person it was issued to as one might want.

In the popular media, there are already cries of concern about privacy issues. I don't discount those concerns but I also see in them a new opportunity for design engineerssniffer systems that locate the chips.